Shelf extenders



June 15, 1965 R. w. GUYER, JR., ETAL 3.189,137

SHELF EXTENDERS Filed Nov. 7, 1962 /fyA/ozps' W Guns/, JR: WMLMM J./PoB/NJON United States Patent O1 This invention relates to animprovementH in ,shel-f extenders and deals particularlywith anattachment to the price molding of a store shelf to produce a displaywhich stands out in prominenoe with respect to' the other goods upon theshelf.

At the present time most of the stores such as the usual supermarketdisplay the goods on rows of superimposed shelves. In most instances,the out-er edges of these shelves are provided with a price molding.This rnolding includes along its forward edge, a pair of ver-ticallyspaced flanges which are shaped to form opposed grooves.

These grooves are designed to support flexible price cards and the likewhich may be positioned'anywhere through-- out the length of themolding, and which usually may be fiexed for insertion and removal. Itis an object of the present invention to provide a shelf extender whichis supported by the price molding to extend forwardly from the shelf. v

A feature of the present invention resides in the provision of aplurality of arms which are at least partially formed of spring stripmaterial such as spring steel and the like, and to provide a bifurcatedend on each arm formed by bending one of the strips into divergingrelation with the other. Hook fianges are provided on thev extremitiesof the diverging ends of the arms which are designed to engage in theopposed flanges of the price molding. Usually such arms are formed oftwo flat strips one of which is generally fiat throughout its length andthe upper of which is bent to i-ncline upward-ly and rearwardly toengage in the upper downwardly opening groove. An adjustable means isdesigned to bridge the divergent ends of the strips forming the arms soas to prevent the inward lexing of these strip ends once the hookfianges are engaged in the grooves. A display support is mounted on twoor more such arms to produce the desired extending display.

The invention also incorporates a novel type of display container whichmay serve as a shipping container for the goods to be displayed, andwhich may be transforrned into a tray-shaped display when opened. Inthis arrangement, a continuous tear strip extends about the four wallsof the container, and Vwhen removed, the upper portion of the containermay be detached and removed to display the contents. A- novel means isprovided for detachably conneoting the lower portion of the container tothe supporting arms.

.In this form of construction, a pad fo-rrned of two layers of materialssuch as corrugated paperboard is secured to the inside bottom of thecontainerin face contact therewith. The lower of the two layers isprovided with a pair of parallel slots which communicate with an edge ofthe pad. The wall of the container is provided With a pair of aperturescommunicating with the ends ofthe slots so that the supporting arms mayextend through the apertures and the slots. Also in the preferredconstruction, the upper layer of the pad is` provided with a pair ofapeitures which register with the other ends of the slots, and thesupporting arms are provided with upwardly and angularly turned flangesdesigned to engage into these apertures to hold the tray shaped bottomportion of the container from detachment from the supporting arm.

3,l89,l87 Patented June 15, 1965 ICC These and other objects and novelfeatures of the present 'invention will be more clearly and fully setforth in the following specification and claims.

In the drawings forminga part of the specification;

'FIGU-RE 1 is a perspective view of the container, which later forms apart of the display. A i

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the lower pontion of the containerwith the top thereof detached, as shown in dotted Outline in FIGURE 2 sothatthe construction of the con'tainerV can be better noted.

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view showing the shelf extender in place upon theshelf.

'FIGURE 4 is a' perspective view of the two arms at- 'tached to a shelfbefore the display container-.has been mounted thereon.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view through one of the arms, rthe position ofthe section being indicated by the line 5-5 of FIGU'RE 4.

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view through the shelf extender, the position ofthe section being indicated by the line 6-6 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 7 is a diagrammatic view of the pad Which overlies the bottom ofthe container.

In the particular arrangement illustrated, a product is shipped incontainer A which may comprise a regular style container forrectangularly arranged side walls such as 10 and 11 which-aresprovidedwith top and bottom closure flaps 12 and 13. The container is not shownin detail as it is generally a conventional structure and includes aremovable tear strip 14 which ex'tends continously about the fourcontainer walls, the tear strip prefera'bly being of the type shown inPatent 2,706,()76 to Reynolds Guyer. Cut lines 15 are provided whichdefine the end of the tear strip and which communicate with an edge 16of the side wall 11 which forms the end of the blank. d The purpose ofthis arrangement is to provide a shipping container for a product suchas is indicated by B and -which may be divided into two parts, the lowerport'ion of which comprises a .tray C after the tear strip 14, has beenremoved.

A pad D is position to overlie the bottom closing flaps 13, and ispreferably adhered or stitched thereto. The pad D includes an upperlayer 17 and a lower layer 19 which are centrally connected by the foldline 20. The lower layer 19 is provided with a pair of parallel slots 21which communicate with an end edge 22 of the blank. The upper layer 17is provided with a pair of apertures 2,3 which preferably registe-rswith the closed end 24 of the slots for a purpose which will be laterdescribed.

Each of the supporting arms E is constructed as best illustrated inFIGURES 4-6 of the drawings and includes a pair of generally flat stripsof spring material such as spring steel or the like. The upper strip 25includes a fiat horizontal end portion 26 and an upwardly and rearwardlyinclined strip end 27 which, as is best indicated in FIGURE 6 of thedrawings, terminates in an upwardly directed hook end 29. The lowerstrip 30 also includes an elongated fiat portion 31 which is preferablyprovided with a central downwardly projecting reinforcing rib 32extending through the major portion of its length to hold the arm frombending intermediate its ends. The fiat portions 26 and 31 are spotwelded or otherwise secured together as indicated at 33. One end of thefiat portion 31 extends beyond the point of bend 34 of the upper strip25 to form a divergent end 36. This end is apertured as indicated at 37and threaded to accommodate an adjustment screw 39. The screw 39 isprovided with a fiattened head 40 by means of which the threaded membermay be adjusted. An ear 41 is cut from the divergent portion 27 of theupper strip 25 against which the upper end 42 of the threaded member 39may engage, the ear being bent out of the strip portion 47 so as toprovide a small aperture into which the upper end of the threaded membermay extend. The extremity of the divergent end 36 of the strip 31 isprovided with a hook-shaped downwardly extending flange 43. The storeshelf is represented at 44, and a molding 45 is attached to the forwardedge of the shelf 44 in any suitable manner. Upper and lower flanges 46and 47 extend forwardly, the upper flange 46 then extending downwardlyto form a groove 49. In a similar way, the fiange 47 extends forwardlyand then upwardly to provide a groove 50. These grooves 49 and 50 aredesigned to engage the upper and lower edges of fiexible price cards.The forward surface 51 of the molding 45 is preferably concave inVertical section so that the price cards are held in slightly curvedform when in place.

The operation of the shelf extender isl believed obvious from thedrawings and description. While the threaded member 37 is loosened orretracted downwardly, the divergent strip ends 27 and 36 are compressedtogether sufficiently to permit the hook ends 29 and 43 of these stripsto extend in the grooves 49 and 59. The two arms E are spaced apart adistance substantially equal to the spacing of the apertures 53 in thecontainer wall 11, and the threaded members 39 are tightened to hold thediverging ends in properly diverging relation.

The container A is then opened by grasping the edge of the blank betweenthe cut lines and exerting an out- Ward pull upon the tear strip,removing a section of the four walls of the container. The upper portionof the container is removed, and the tray C remains.

To complete the operation, the forward ends of the arms E are forcedthrough the apertures 53 and through the slots 21. The lower strips areprovided with upwardly angularly extending end flanges 54 which bearagainst the bottom of the upper layer 17 of the pad D usually raisingthe portion of the pad above the slots to the extent necessary to permitthe entrance of the flanges 54. When the flanges 54 register with theVapertures 23 in the upper pad portion 17, they extend into theseapertures and prevent the accidental removal of the tray from thesupporting arms E.

In accordance with the patent statutes, the principles of constructionand operation of this improvement in Shelf Extenders have beendescribed, and while an endeavor has been made to set forth the bestembodiment thereof, it should be understood that changes may be madewithin the scope of the following claims without departing from thespirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A shelf extender for use in dsplaying a product contained in acontainer, the container including rectangularly arranged connected sidewalls and top and bottom closure walls,

a tear strip extending continuously about said rectangularly arrangedside walls intermediate the top and bottom closure walls, whereby theportion of the container above said tear strip may be detached andremoved to expose the container contents,

a pad of two layers secured overlying said container bottom closurewall,

the lower layer of said pad having a pair of slots therein communicatingwith an edge thereof,

one said side wall having a pair of apertures therethrough in registrywith the ends of said slots communicating with the pad edge,

the upper layer of said pad having a pair of apertures therein inregistry with the other ends of said slots,

a pair of arms extending through said one wall and said slots andincluding upturned flanged ends extending into said apertures in saidupper layer, and

means for attaching said arms to a shelf edge.

2. A shelf extende-r for use in combination with a shelf having an outeredge molding provided with a pair of opposed vertically spaced flangesdefining opposed grooves adapted to accommodate opposite edges of pricecards and the like, the eXtender including,

a pair of elongated arms adapted to be secured to said molding in spacedrelation,

each arm including a relatively short bifurcated end cemprising a pairof diverging strips, at least one of which is resilient,

outwardly directed hook flanges on said strip extremities adapted toengage into the opposed grooves in the molding,

a threaded member adjustably supported extendng through one of saiddiverging strips and engageable against the other said strip to limitinward flexing of the strips,

an article support detachably supported by said arms,

a tray-shaped body including a bottom wall and connected side walls,

a double layer pad secured overlying said bottom wall and including apair of parallel slots in the lower layer of the pad communicating withan edge thereof, one of the side walls of the tray having aperturestherein in registry with the ends of the slots, and

said arms extending through said apertures and said slots to underliethe upper pad layer.

3. The structure of claim 2 and in which the other ends of the armsinclude upwardly and angularly turned flanges, and

in which the upper pad layer includes a pair of apertures into whichsaid angularly turned flanges extend when extending through said slots.

4. A shelf extender for use in combination with a shelf including:

a pair of parallel arms extending from said shelf in a substantiallycommon plane,

a tray including a bottom wall and connected side walls extendingupwardly therefrom,

a double layer pad secured overlying said bottom wall and including apair of parallel slots in the lower layer of the pad communicating withan edge thereof,

one of said side walls of said tray having apertures thcrethrough inregistry with the ends of said slots,

said arms extending through said apertures and said slots to underliethe upper pad layer.

5. The structure of claim 4 and in which the ends of the arms mostremote from said shelf include upwardly and angularly turned flanges,and

in which the upper pad member includes a pair of apertures into whichsaid angularly turned flanges extend when said arms extend through saidslots.

References Cited by the Examiuer UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,589,572 6/26Seinecke 206- l,757,521 5/30 Gebhards 248-313 2,655,338 10/53 Stoger248-311 2,90l,199 8/59 Thompson 248-72 2,9l4,ll63 11/59 Allen 206-1953,015,897 1/62 Hopp 248-223 X 3,043,490 7/62 Burnett 229-51 FRANK L.ABBOTT, Primary Examiner. CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Examz'ner,

1. A SHELF EXTENDER FOR USE IN DISPLAYING A PRODUCT CONTAINED IN ACONTAINER, THE CONTAINER INCLUDING RECTANGULARLY ARRANGED CONNECTED SIDEWALLS AND TOP AND BOTTOM CLOSURE WALLS, A TEAR STRIP EXTENDINGCONTINUOUSLY ABOUT SAID RECTANGULARLY ARRANGED SIDE WALLS INTERMEDIATETHE TOP AND BOTTOM CLOSURE WALLS, WHEREBY THE PORTION OF THE CONTAINERABOVE SAID TEAR STRIP MAY BE DETACHED AND REMOVED TO EXPOSE THECONTAINER CONTENTS, A PAD OF TWO LAYERS SECURED OVERLYING SAID CONTAINERBOTTOM CLOSURE WALL, THE LOWER LAYER OF SAID PAD HAVING A PAIR OF SLOTSTHEREIN COMMUNICATING WITH AN EDGE THEREOF, ONE SAID SIDE WALL HAVING APAIR OF APERTURES THERETHROUGH IN REGISTRY WITH THE ENDS OF SAID SLOTSCOMMUNICATING WITH THE PAD EDGE, THE UPPER LAYER OF SAID PAD HAVING APAIR OF APERTURES THEREIN IN REGISTRY WITH THE OTHER ENDS OF SAID SLOTS,A PAIR OF ARMS EXTENDING THROUGH SAID ONE WALL AND SAID SLOTS ANDINCLUDING UPTURNED FLANGED ENDS EXTENDING INTO SAID APERTURES IN SAIDUPPER LAYER, AND MEANS FOR ATTACHING SAID ARMS TO A SHELF EDGE.